Chapter 38
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 38
Around the time Gio drifted off to sleep, his jerky-making stream a success, the world outside the frame was in the middle of a busy workday.
"So this is why you called me."
"Come on, let’s have a chat. Why the scary face?"
"If you think I only manage 'Gio’s Portrait,' you are sorely mistaken…"
"I give you incentives, don’t I?"
"Damn this capitalist society."
Yoo Seong-un had been summoned by the Guild Master.
"Didn’t I tell you I’d compile the report and submit it soon?"
"How can I possibly wait until then?"
"Why can’t you wait?"
"You know how I am."
"I don’t, actually."
"People should talk face-to-face."
"That’s an outrageous insult to our highly advanced, modern society."
"There’s so little warmth in the world these days. Especially among our employees."
"I have no idea what warmth you expect from this miserable world, and I certainly don’t know why you’re demanding it from me."
"Everyone is so cold."
"That’s just your preference, so stop spouting nonsense."
Bisabeol offered a bright smile and poured some fruit tea for the utterly exhausted Yoo Seong-un.
"How about a drink to cheer you up?"
"Is this poison?"
"Tsk, tsk. How could you call it poison when it’s a gift from our precious Portrait?"
"I’d rather you give me poison. So I can drink it and just collapse…"
No matter how gentle 'Gio’s Portrait' was, he was still an Existence of the Origin—simply put, a monster. Dealing with a rare humanoid monster was exhausting enough, but that wasn’t Yoo Seong-un’s only duty.
"The sea has been so turbulent lately that I was called out there again."
Yoo Seong-un was also handling external requests.
"I looked into it, and the movements of the Children of the Origin are strange. I’ll submit a report on that soon as well. Probably tomorrow or the day after…"
"You can report on that later. It wasn’t my request anyway."
"Of course you’d say that."
"Now, will you tell me about Gio?"
"I knew it."
For the record, Bisabeol still hadn’t managed to speak with Gio.
"It’s because you act so overbearing that Gio avoids talking to you."
"Hey, what did I even do?"
"There are plenty of employees who have seen the Black Cloak, yet you, the Guild Master, haven’t spoken to him even once. At this point, it’s a dereliction of duty."
"I told you, I tried to talk to him!"
"I meant you should change your approach."
It was a matter related to Gio’s traits.
"Doesn’t Gio dislike rude people?"
"He doesn’t hate them, though."
"That’s true, but…"
There were two things 'Gio’s Portrait' disliked.
Rudeness, and evil.
…But while he avoids rude people, he doesn’t view them entirely negatively.
It was just as some people love dogs and cats but dislike reptiles.
Gio avoided rude people in a similar vein. He didn’t look down on their very existence; he just didn’t enjoy associating with them.
"That kind of indifference is quite similar to the Children of the Origin."
"Naturally. He may claim to be human, but he can’t be identical to us in every way. Perhaps he’s just trying hard to ignore the fact that he isn’t human…"
Though, in reality, Gio hadn’t given it any thought at all.
"Well, it seems he doesn’t show that same indifference to criminals, though."
While he might think, 'That’s just how some people are,' regarding rude individuals, Gio showed clear disgust when faced with malice. He had never actually encountered a criminal, but it was already obvious from his usual words and actions.
"Either way, we still have to be careful. You should be careful too, Guild Master."
"I’ll try to restrain myself."
"You always say that. Anyway…"
The reason Bisabeol had called Yoo Seong-un was obvious.
"Are you curious about how Gio acted during his tour of Seoul?"
"Of course I am. An Existence of the Origin, whose true identity is completely unknown, wandered around the human world. And he even returned peacefully without causing any major incidents, right?"
"That’s correct."
Of course, there was one unsettling detail.
"Didn’t a Priest of the Sun go missing, though?"
"Oh, please. From what I’ve gathered, his background wasn’t exactly clean anyway."
"That’s probably why they’re keeping it quiet internally."
"With the initiation ceremony coming up soon, they definitely wouldn’t want to make a public issue out of it."
"…It seems Gio had a hand in that disappearance."
A Hunter qualified to be a curator required extraordinary observation skills and memory. Yoo Seong-un remembered the man in scholar’s clothing he had encountered at Gyeongbokgung, and the missing priest was that very man.
"That day, Gio framed his hands like a camera to look at the man."
"A camera? Considering Gio is a portrait, wouldn’t it be closer to a frame?"
"Perhaps. At any rate, after making eye contact with the man, he suggested leaving Gyeongbokgung, and he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood."
"Did he get upset because he ran into a vile person?"
"I believe that’s highly likely."
"So that’s how Gio appraises people. Good to know."
According to Bisabeol’s intelligence, the priest was indeed corrupt. Yoo Seong-un trusted Bisabeol, and neither of them even considered the possibility that the priest Gio disposed of might not have been a bad person.
"Still, seeing how quietly he handled it shows how well Gio understands human society. He probably didn’t want to cause a scene."
He was wrong. It was actually Honey acting alone while Gio was fast asleep. It wasn’t that Honey wanted to avoid a scene either; he had simply sensed a threat to his father, eliminated it, and returned.
However, Gio did not give off the impression of being thoughtless. If anything, he often felt like a quiet entity who knew too much. Operating under the assumption that Gio was fully aware of everything, the two continued their conversation.
"In that case, I’m curious to see what would happen if he encountered a criminal head-on."
"Of course you are. Try not to indulge that morbid curiosity of yours."
"So cold."
"……."
Does he really want to act like that at his age?
I should make sure I don’t grow old like him.
Yoo Seong-un ignored Bisabeol, who was pretending to look pitiful.
"The most surprising aspect of this tour and observation is, after all, that Gio lowered his own status to the level of a human."
"…Lowered his status?"
For the first time in a while, Bisabeol looked genuinely surprised.
"Gio? He lowered his status to a human level of his own accord?"
"Yes, surprising, isn’t it?"
"More than surprising…"
Bisabeol paused to choose his words. He soon found the right term.
"It’s creepy."
Indeed, Gio was not human.
"To carve out his own flesh so casually."
"I was terrified when I first saw it too. If Gio were human, he would never have made such a decision."
"And if it was merely to avoid causing a scene, I can relate to it even less."
Although Bisabeol had never spoken to Gio, he had 'seen' him many times. The status of the Gio that Bisabeol knew was on a level incomparable to that of a mere human.
"Yet, to deliberately drag himself down to the point of being perceived as human…"
It was no different from being tortured by being carved up alive.
"Did he seem to have any health issues?"
"There were no abnormalities I could detect, and he wore his usual expressionless face."
"I see."
To Gio, who had originally been human, the sensation wasn’t strange. But to others, it was an eccentricity far worse than gouging out one’s own eyes, severing limbs, and ripping out entrails.
"Were there any other unusual details?"
"Uh…"
Yoo Seong-un chose a lighter topic.
"He seemed to like food."
"No wonder he kept giving food as gifts."
"He appeared to be interested in both eating and cooking."
That was also part of why he was worried.
"At this rate, he could easily be taken advantage of."
"Oh dear."
That was a bit of a problem.
"You said you warned him about that, right?"
"Though I don’t know if he understood."
"An amicable Existence of the Origin is actually much trickier to deal with."
If it were a normal monster, they could just eliminate it. But since they needed to maintain continuous, mutual interaction, there was much more to worry about. Just as protecting is harder than attacking.
"Still, it’s a relief that he seems highly willing to cooperate."
"He is a good guy, after all…"
Aside from the chilling nature of his status, Gio was definitely a good guy.
"It’s just that his very existence is a threat."
"But that’s not something we can do anything about, is it?"
"I know."
But regardless of Gio’s intentions, continuous vigilance seemed necessary.
"…Ah."
"Is there something else?"
"It’s about Gio’s personality."
"His personality? I’m already intrigued."
"When he lowered his status, Gio truly looked like a human."
This required a bit of explanation.
"To the point where he seemed like an entirely different being from the usual Gio."
"If it’s to that extent, it’s not just a matter of high or low status, is it?"
"I can confirm it affects his personality, too."
"Could it be a side effect of lowering his status?"
"That seems most likely. Though for us, this more harmless side is better…"
There was something eerie about the Gio in the paintings, or the one who occasionally wandered the building at dawn. He was like a grim reaper.
No, he was closer to death itself—devoid of will or emotion.
Clad in a pitch-black cloak, his footsteps nearly silent, he always walked with his hands clasped behind his back, neat and orderly like a nobleman, observing the world with curious eyes. Yet, his expressionless, gloomy face carried a certain chill.
That low temperature didn’t mean Gio had a cold personality. It was as if his very existence was incapable of holding warmth.
"The Gio who hasn’t lowered his status is extremely polite, orderly, and heavy. Even those who haven’t spoken to him and have only seen his portrait often describe it as 'like a painting of someone’s deathbed.'"
Gio felt like the very embodiment of a funeral.
And that sheer remoteness.
"He could never be called human."
"But is it really enough to talk about a change in personality?"
"I’ve confirmed it definitely has an effect."
The Gio who lowered his status was like a truly ordinary person.
"A slightly too blunt, polite person."
But the usual Gio was different.
"He’s a bit more arrogant."
"Hmm?"
"No, the word 'arrogant' is a bit off… How should I put it…"
It was difficult to describe.
"…Like a high-ranking noble…"
Gio looked down on humans.
Like someone whose hobby is observing insects might look at a commendable ant carrying a heavy load—perhaps even finding it cute.
"In fact, Gio has given gifts to people several times. While there is a concept of reward, it clearly took the form of a bestowal. Even as he claimed to be an ordinary 29-year-old human, he evaluated and praised employees who were much older than him."
At that, Bisabeol asked.
"But the Gio who lowered his status was different?"
"Yes, at those times, he truly looked like an ordinary young man."
The 'Gio' Yoo Seong-un observed was a polite, taciturn 29-year-old.
"Though even then, he was a bit… overly curious, and there was that time he tried to pay for things with gems…"
"Since he isn’t a real human, those unique quirks are unavoidable. But even so, it’s truly fascinating that he acted enough like an ordinary young man."
"He mentioned taking separate measures, which was likely the cause."
There was also a point of concern.
"Normally, his high status makes it impossible to even think of trying anything with him. But since he looks like an ordinary 29-year-old young man, I’m worried he might get caught up in some strange scam."
"…Would it go that far? He still has his Appraisal Skill…"
"When he’s transformed into a human, not only does his personality become much gentler, but his abilities also seem to be restricted. Even that Appraisal Skill could only be used when he made that frame gesture with his hands."
And one more thing.
"The longer he stayed outside, the weaker he became."
In reality, Gio had simply been drained of energy from being exposed to modern society for the first time in a long while, but Yoo Seong-un, who paid meticulous attention to Gio’s every state, couldn’t help but attribute various deeper meanings to it.
"I’m worried others might try to mess with him."
"That would certainly be a problem."
"Right?"
"It’s not just Gio, but…"
Bisabeol stroked his chin.
"Lowering his status doesn’t mean his essence disappears."
Imagine you have two large pieces of metal, and you compress one of them to be very small.
While one would certainly be large and the other small, their weight would remain the same. In fact, because it’s so dense, the smaller one could injure a person even more easily.
A bomb is a similar example. Even if you fashion a bomb into a small, cute shape, it will still explode the moment you light the fuse. In fact, because it was compressed, the explosion might be far more violent.
"Without precise analysis, this is just speculation… but since Gio considers himself human, poking at his essence will likely trigger a much greater backlash. There’s no need to invite such a disaster."
"I agree."
"Unless the entire nation has agreed to a mass suicide pact?"
Thus, when Gio became 'human,' he clearly needed solid protection.
"We should issue him a Hunter license."
"Just having that will definitely prevent most trouble."
In this world, Hunters were a kind of authority figure and celebrity. When a dispute arose, simply showing a Hunter license resolved most conflicts, as the Association strictly prohibited fighting among Hunters.
"And one more thing."
Yoo Seong-un continued.
"This is also related to his personality."
"What more could there be?"
"When he’s human, Gio can be defined as a 29-year-old young man named 'Seo Gio.' Right?"
But Yoo Seong-un had clearly witnessed it.
"When Gio dipped his feet in Cheonggyecheon…"
"……."
"And when he rode the water taxi."
A change had occurred in Gio.
"He was looking at the water with the gaze of an entirely different person."
That gaze did not belong to the blunt, taciturn 29-year-old young man, Gio.
It seemed far more experienced, with clearer emotions. There was a distinct sense of distance, yet it wasn’t cold; it was soft, like that of a beloved model student. The faint smile that occasionally touched his lips even held a light, cheerful quality, like a cool sea breeze.
In many ways, it was different from the existing 'Seo Gio' or 'Portrait.'
"There was also a change in his form. His hair turned white, and a watery light swirled in his eyes."
"Oh, that sounds quite similar to you, Curator Yoo Seong-un."
"It felt a bit… different from me. Though they belong to a similar category…"
That color was much warmer.
Like summer sunlight, or the surface of the sea.
"……."
It wasn’t certain.
"I’ll look into it further."
"Let’s do that."
There was still too little they knew about Gio.